How to Get Metrics Data on Phone Calls

Everyone wants to get metrics data on phone calls. Try as you might to get folks to fill out a web form, scan a QR Code with their smartphone, or send you an e-mail you can track, some people are just old school. They want to hear a human voice, and they’re going to call you.

Until recently, you had no idea how to measure this phone-call metrics, but now you can do so in a variety of ways:

Mobile metrics

Google AdWords and Google Voice

Third-party companies

Taking advantage of mobile metrics

You can use your mobile metrics to track phone calls. By putting a clickable phone number into your mobile landing page, your mobile visitors can click it directly to call your locations. This click is trackable in Google Analytics.

You need to give the phone number a bit of code so that Google Analytics can recognize which number is being called (if you have more than one location) or so that you can easily find the metric in your reports. That code is a simple modified href code you’re most likely familiar with from blogging:

Using Google AdWords and Google Voice

The second method of tracking phone calls involves using Google AdWords and Google Voice. Google introduced the AdWords Call Metrics program to help solve this ROI dilemma for everyone.

How it works is simple. Inside your Google AdWords ad campaign, use the extension that adds your Google Voice phone number to ads as a metric. Then when you create each ad, make sure to include the phone number. The phone number is clickable, and AdWords includes clicks on the number in its ad reporting now. If you did link AdWords and Analytics, you can take this metric even further.

Using a third-party solution for call data

Third-party companies can route your calls through your analytics and landing pages to help generate reports. If you have the budget for this solution, it is certainly one option.

Google is adding new phone call tracking metrics over time, and you soon won’t need to spend the extra money.

Some companies who have been offering this service include Mongoose Metrics, Blue Corona, ifbyphone, Marchex, and more. Mongoose Metrics has definitely been doing it the longest, even receiving a nod of approval from Google before Google introduced its own call tracking metrics.

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